Establishment of the Kosovo Office for International Cooperation

UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri and Kosovo Premier Bajram Rexhepi announced on Friday in Pristina the establishment of a Kosovo Office for International Cooperation and Dialogue. Holkeri, who issued the 2004/7 decree that defines the conditions of the Office's establishment and work, said that the move was in line with UNSC Resolution 1244 and denied it was prompted by the violent March events. Rexhepi commented that the establishment of the Office has laid the foundations for forming Kosovo's future Foreign Ministry, Vecernje Novosti reported, and expressed his belief that amendments to the Constitutional Framework (CF) for Kosovo would be adopted in the second half of 2004, thus creating the legal conditions for its creation, Beta reported. He stressed that his government expects other powers to be transferred, especially in the economic area, and that the offices for energy, European integration, planning and political strategy, and for legal issues, for which he has been insisting since August 2003, would be opened too, KAG reported. Newly appointed Serbia & Montenegro (SCG) Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic commented that Holkeri made a mistake by founding the Office for Foreign Relations and Dialogue because “Resolution 1244, the CF and the plan for standard implementation prior to defining the province’s status recently promoted by Holkeri himself, strictly envisaged that foreign affairs were an exclusive jurisdiction of the UNMIK head,” Blic reported. The head of the Coordination Center for Kosovo Nebojsa Covic denounced Holkeri’s decision as a “dangerous precedent,” while commenting that “it is still not a foreign affairs ministry, but it is the first step in that direction and may definitely be interpreted as the road to an independent Kosovo of sorts. This must be stopped, recognized for what it is and clearly defined,” Glas Javnosti reported. He told Radio B92 that despite the different public messages by the international community, the resolution of Kosovo’s final status has begun.

Office for International Cooperation Reward to Albanian Extremists Say Kosovo Serbs

Kosovo Assembly Presidency member Oliver Ivanovic considers that “UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri evidently wants to placate the Albanians, and is thereby encouraging the extremists," Beta reported. Milan Ivanovic, who chairs the Serb National Council (SNV) for northern Kosovo, said that Holkeri's decision "is another reward to Albanian extremists," and added that "with his actions, Holkeri is becoming a destabilizing factor in the region. Together with Albanian terrorists and the provisional institutions, he is working for Kosovo's independence." As for Marko Jaksic, president of the Union of Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo, he considers Holkeri to be cynical in his treatment of the Serbs in Kosovo, and stressed that "instead of being punished for what happened during the unrest in March and especially for the ethnic cleansing campaign against the Serbs, Kosovo leaders are being rewarded for their actions with rewards conducive to independence," KAG reported. The EU Foreign Ministers are to discuss again today in Luxembourg the situation in Kosovo following last month’s violence, and shall point out that the violence would not be praised and that the international community will give not up on the policy of standards before status. They are also expected to call for the continuation of dialogue between Prishtina and Belgrade and for the start of internal dialogue between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo, Koha Ditore reported.

Draskovic Calls on Elimination of Consequences of Ethnic Cleansing of Kosovo Serbs

At the occasion of the presentation of the main guidelines of his foreign policy to the Ambassadors of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, the Contact Group, the EU and the G8 last Friday, Serbia & Montenegro (SCG) Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic called on the international community to take urgent and concrete measures to remove the consequences of "the ethnic cleansing of Serbs in Kosovo," which “has been going on since 1999," and to make it possible for Kosovo Serbs to return to their homes and live safely. Draskovic told the Ambassadors that “such a course of developments is possible only if the request of the Serbs to be granted territorial and political autonomy within the province is met,” reported Glas Javnosti. He expressed his readiness to “talk with the leaders of the Kosovo Albanians about the reconciliation of the two people and on a joint European future, which cannot be attained by ethnic cleansing but only by full protection of the Serbs in Kosovo," Beta reported. The Kosovo Government completed a report on the mid March violent events in the province and concluded that they were mainly caused by the grave social and economic situation, the lack of expected results in the political plan, the deficiencies and ambiguities of the Constitutional Framework and Resolution 1244, the lack of genuine cooperation between UNMIK and the Government on economy and security, and the continued existence of illegal and illegitimate mechanisms in areas where Serbs are the majority population, reported Koha Ditore. It further attributes the rise of the dissatisfaction and frustration of the masses to provocative resolutions on Kosovo frequently adopted by Serbia, arrests of members of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), and the uncertainty about the fate of thousands of citizens of Kosovo gone missing during the war. It concludes that the probable "worst consequence is that interethnic hatred has intensified,” and deplores that “in full view of the entire civilized world, we failed to show that we are part of this civilization” due to the “image of violence and ‘attempts’ at ethnic violence,” KAG reported.

Covic Denounces UNMIK’s Embargo on Report on Drowning of Albanian Kids

The head of the Coordination Center for Kosovo (CCK) Nebojsa Covic claims, upon seeing the report by the Kosovo investigative bodies, that the international forces are responsible for the death of the Albanian children who drowned in the Ibar River, which was the direct cause of an outbreak of violence against Serbs from March 17-19, and that the report rejects the possibility that Serbs chased the boys and forced them to jump into the river. Deploring that the report had “been hidden from the eyes of the public and an embargo placed on it,” Covic commented that “it describes what really happened and it clearly shows that Serbs had nothing to do with it,” while it “states clearly whether it was police officers or soldiers, none of whom were Serbs, who were in some kind of contact with the children," Radio B92 reported. UNMIK Police and Judiciary Department spokesman Neeraj Singh answered that Covic’s information was incorrect, and stressed that the investigation on the drowning of children was still going on, while UNMIK would publish its results upon its completion, Beta reported.

Kostunica and Coalition ‘Povratak’ Insist on Autonomy for Kosovo Serbs

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Kosovo Assembly Members of the Serb Coalition “Povratak” (Return/KP), who met last Friday, concluded that wide support is needed for the government draft plan for resolving the situation in Kosovo, which implies autonomy for the Serb community in the province. They underlined it was important for the government motion to be unanimously accepted by the Serbian Parliament after agreement is reached with all the parliamentary parties. The KP representatives expressed their full support to the principles of the government’s draft plan, expecting that establishing autonomy for the Serb community will put an end to the persecution of the remaining Serb and non-Albanian population, and that conditions will be created for the return of displaced persons to Kosovo, VIP reported.